


Sleepovers

by Marie_Tomas



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Crushes, Cuddling & Snuggling, Early Days, Friendship, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, POV Jared Padalecki, RPF, RPS - Freeform, Sharing a Bed, Sleepovers, Sleepy Cuddles, Spooning, Stress Relief, Temporarily Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 20:56:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10907313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marie_Tomas/pseuds/Marie_Tomas
Summary: After forming an instant bond with Jensen from their first audition, Jared has got used to inviting Jensen to his place for 'sleepovers' most Fridays after work. The sleepovers are purely platonic, with movies and junk food and even a little cuddling, but secretly, Jared wishes that he and Jensen could be more than friends.One Friday night, when Jensen confides in Jared about secretly feeling overwhelmed by their work and their fame, Jared discovers that Jensen has been keeping another secret from him, too.





	Sleepovers

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little fluffy story about J2 cuddling, mainly written because Sam and Dean get to do so much cuddling in my fan-fictions, so I thought it was only fair that Jared and Jensen got their turn. ;)
> 
> Light angst in terms of both guys being a little stressed from work (and Jared stressing over his crush on Jensen).
> 
> Set during the early seasons of SPN. Jared and Jensen have known each other for about a year in this story. All events depicted are fictional.

"Hey, man, you awake?"

At the soft and uncertain-sounding question, Jared shifted a little in his bed and turned his head to his right to see Jensen standing in the doorway of his bedroom.

Stifling a yawn (and blinking a few times in an attempt to wake himself up), Jared looked Jensen up and down for a couple of seconds. He noticed that his co-star looked tense, and maybe even a little vulnerable, if his body language was anything to go by, and he definitely looked as exhausted as Jared felt. He also looked kind of cute in his old pajamas, but Jared knew that now wasn't the right time for a thought like that. He briefly wondered if he too should be wearing warmer items of clothing like Jensen, but he'd always been in the habit of sleeping without his shirt on.

Jared felt a rush of sympathy towards his friend. He could definitely relate to his feelings of exhaustion after long days and long hours on set all week, with most of their time spent filming outside in the cold Vancouver winter weather. Coupled with the fact that Jared had missed out on several family events and parties with close friends over the past few months due to work commitments, and it definitely meant that he was in the mood to feel a little sorry for himself for a little while.

"Yeah, dude, I'm awake," Jared whispered softly in reply to Jensen, who still seemed to be waiting for something from Jared as he covered his mouth to hide a yawn. "You okay?"

"Sure," Jensen replied quickly, not sounding very convincing.

As Jensen shifted from one foot to the other, looking uncomfortable, and he ran a hand slowly through his tousled hair, Jared felt yet another twist of sympathy.

He almost hadn't expected Jensen to want to hang out at his place tonight. Sure, Jensen had spent a lot of weekends at Jared's house since they'd first started working together and they'd struck up an almost instant friendship, but after an early start and a grueling day of filming, Jared had worried that an evening at his house really would be too tiring for his buddy this time.

Jared had secretly been happy however, when Jensen had insisted that he still had enough energy to hang out with Jared after work and watch a couple of movies together. He'd felt even happier when (after Jensen had almost fallen asleep on the sofa a few times) Jensen finally accepted Jared's offer to stay the night.

It wasn't unusual now for Jensen to stay over at weekends, even though Jared had never been interested in asking any of his previous co-stars to stay over after work. Hell, he'd rarely even spent any _time_ with his former co-stars outside of work. Yet with Jensen, something was different about the bond they shared. At first, Jared had tried to convince himself that he loved having Jensen over because they were just really good friends, like brothers almost, but he knew deep down that there was more to it than that (on his part, anyway).

It had taken a little while for Jensen to start accepting invitations to hang out at Jared's after work, and even longer for him to agree to stay the night, but now, he spent so many Friday and Saturday nights at Jared's that the cast and crew had started to jokingly call these nights 'sleepovers'.

It was true that their nights together definitely sounded like girly sleepovers to their colleagues; they ate pizza and other junk food and watched trashy TV shows together, or sometimes they watched 'chick-flicks' while eating popcorn.

Yet in spite of having to endure all of their colleagues' mocking, Jared loved his 'sleepovers' with Jensen; he loved getting to see Jensen all casual and relaxed, wearing T-shirts and sweatpants, with his hair all tousled, and sharing stories with Jared about his life, even throwing his head back and laughing when Jared made jokes, or giggling when Jared attempted to impersonate the accents of various characters from the TV shows they always watched. Jared had thought that Jensen was beautiful from the moment he first met him, but somehow, he seemed even more beautiful when he was wearing casual clothes and laughing and just letting go and being himself.

He'd also felt a little flutter of happiness when Jensen got to the point where he was so relaxed on Jared's sofa that he felt comfortable enough to drift off to sleep on some evenings, often leaning his head on Jared's shoulder while he slept. Jensen was known for being kind of shy, and Jared had a feeling that there weren't many other guys who got to see Jensen when he was so relaxed and vulnerable.

On the other hand, Jared couldn't help wishing that the cast and crew would think that they were doing much _more_ than just enjoying girly sleepovers. Or, even better, he wished that he and Jensen could actually _do_ more than just 'sleep over' at Jared's. Not that he could ever admit this out loud to Jensen, especially when Jensen had never given him any indication that he was into guys, let alone any hint that he was interested in Jared like that. They got along so well, and they supported each other through the good times and the bad, so he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize their friendship, or to put a stop to the time they spent together outside of work.

Jared was snapped back into the present when Jensen shifted uncomfortably again in the doorway.

"Seriously, man, you okay?" Jared asked him more insistently.

"Yeah…uh…just a long day...long week," he mumbled. "You get it, right?"

Jared nodded in response. He really did get it. He felt like the two of them _really_ got each other, or more specifically, they understood what the other was going through after working so closely together for a year, and experiencing all of the highs and lows of a steady rise to fame. Jared was sure that this was one of the reasons why they got on so well; the reason why they shared such a close bond.

In the end, Jared decided to assume that Jensen was looking for some sort of comfort or reassurance from him, so he resorted to his usual tactic.

"Hey, you…uh…you wanna come and sit here for a little while?" he asked Jensen tentatively, uncertainly, feeling strangely nervous as he gently patted a spot at the end of his bed.

Nights like these always started with the two of them saying goodnight and heading to their separate rooms; but then, after a couple of hours, one of them would always get up to go to the bathroom or to grab something from the kitchen, and they'd usually end up passing each other's doorways, stopping to check that the other was okay. Then they would start talking, and they would often end up sitting on each other's beds, before Jared would just go all out every time and suggest that one of them should just get into the bed so that they could continue talking, until they would gradually fall asleep together, even going as far as cuddling on most nights.

Jared was usually the one to initiate the bed-sharing thing that the two of them had started doing recently. It had started a little while after Jared finally convinced Jensen that it made more sense for him to just sleep in Jared's spare room rather than driving home late at night when he was already tired after work. At first, Jared had assumed that Jensen's reluctance to ask Jared directly if he could sleep in his bed was some kind of 'macho' thing, but after getting to know Jensen a little better, he'd come to realize that Jensen was just too shy to ask.

Jensen offered a seemingly casual shrug in response before he slowly walked towards Jared's bed, sitting himself down on the end of it, but Jared couldn't help noticing that there was a look of relief in his eyes at Jared's invitation.

They sat in silence for a minute, and Jared started to run his hand soothingly up and down Jensen's back and through his hair. Most people didn't seem to realize that Jensen loved touches and affection, especially from people he was close to. It wasn't unusual for him to randomly grab Jared for a hug or to throw an arm around his shoulder when they were watching TV together. When they were alone together, Jensen was definitely nothing like the character he portrayed on the show.

Jensen let out a soft sigh and then leaned his body towards Jared's hand, apparently relaxing into the touch. Jared felt a brief rush of affection before he had to silently remind himself that Jensen was just his friend, and would probably only ever think of him as a good buddy.

"You wanna talk about anything?" Jared asked him gently, sensing that Jensen had something he needed to get off his chest.

"It's just…" Jensen started to say after a couple more seconds of silence, before he cut himself off, looking uncertain.

"Hey, I'm always here for you," Jared whispered, trying to sound reassuring. He knew that Jensen struggled with putting his feelings into words, and he always had to gently coax him into opening up to him. He ran his hands softly through Jensen's hair to offer further encouragement.

"It's just…I missed a good buddy's birthday last week. And he might have been cool about it, but I wasn't. Not when I already haven't seen my family or friends from back home for months. And we've had so many long days and long hours on set, Jay, along with all the weekends at Cons, and interviews and promotion for the show where we have to act so happy all the time….

He paused for a moment and let out another sigh before he continued. "I haven't been sleeping well all week. Hell, I feel like the only time I get a good night's sleep is when I'm staying at your place. It's like if I stop for too long or take a break, the show might get cancelled, or the ratings might drop, and it'll be our fault because we haven't done enough. And it's like this could all be taken away at any moment. But I can't complain about it or say anything in public because we're 'so lucky'. That's what they all tell us at every event, right? And I get it, we are lucky-there are actors out there who can't even get a day's work and we've got the show, and we're earning money, and we have so many opportunities…but sometimes, that makes it worse, because it's not like we can go looking for sympathy when we're stressed about working day and night and not having enough time to spend with the ones we love or the opportunity to talk about...stuff…"

He trailed off and let out another sigh, looking a little desperate, or like he was worried that he wasn't getting his message across.

"Dude, I'm sorry," Jensen added, eventually looking up at Jared, now looking a little sheepish about what he'd just said. "I know it's been tough for you this week, too, and I don't wanna burden you with all of this crap, and I don't wanna sound ungrateful for what we have-"

"Hey," Jared cut him off gently but firmly. "It's okay; I get it. Sure, we're lucky, but it doesn't mean that it's not gonna be hard at times, too. It doesn't mean that you're not allowed to be tired and to feel negative feelings. Sometimes, you just gotta let it all out. I'm always here for you, you know that, right?" Jared wasn't sure if this was the most eloquent response ever, but it was late, and he was tired, too, and he hoped that his soft, reassuring touches would make up for it.

Jensen sighed again, but this time, it sounded like a sigh of relief. He looked a little more relaxed, like he felt better now that he'd had the chance to speak his thoughts out loud and Jared hadn't disagreed with him.

"Thanks, Jay," he said around yet another yawn, sounding genuinely grateful.

"You wanna just sleep in here tonight?" Jared asked him, trying not to sound too hopeful as he pointed to the pillow next to him on the bed. "We could even indulge in a little 'manly cuddling', if it'll make you feel better…" he added jokingly with a grin and a wink, trying to lighten the mood.

Jared usually tried not to think too much about how cuddling with Jensen was so much better than the cuddle sessions with any of his actual boyfriends had ever been. He always just enjoyed the close contact with his friend and appreciated whatever affection he got from him.

To Jared's relief, Jensen grinned for the first time all evening. "Sure," he nodded, already moving to get into the bed with Jared. At least Jensen seemed to enjoy the cuddling as much as Jared did.

Just as he started to lift the covers, Jared noticed that Jensen was staring at his bare chest. He allowed himself a brief moment of hope that Jensen was actually checking him out, but then Jensen frowned, and he looked a little uncomfortable about something.

"You're not naked under there, are ya?" Jensen asked him with a raised eyebrow. "Because I uh...you know..."

And there it was, yet another awkward reminder that Jensen was straight…

With Jensen's question, Jared felt a twist of disappointment at the apparent confirmation that Jensen wasn't interested in him like that and was maybe even uncomfortable with the very idea of him being naked; but then he had to firmly remind himself that he'd known this about Jensen all along; that any hopes of Jensen being gay or bisexual were nothing but dreams and fantasies in Jared's head.

Besides, he'd dealt with situations like this hundreds of times before, mainly with a few of his straight buddies who were happy to share affection with Jared, but who also couldn't help letting slip in their jokes and comments that they were uncomfortable with anything more than that, like they weren't quite secure enough in their masculinity to get _too_ affectionate or to see too much of Jared's body.

Sure, the jokes sucked sometimes, but Jared always got over them and shrugged things off. He just wished that he didn't feel so disappointed this time. He wondered if Jensen knew that Jared was gay and was simply letting him know in a subtle way that in spite of their frequent bed-sharing, he wasn't interested in taking things any further than that; or maybe he was starting to get nervous about the cast and crew making jokes about their sleepovers all the time...

"Nah, I only get naked on Saturdays," Jared joked with a smirk and a wink, deciding to just laugh it off and also feeling kind of relieved that he'd decided to at least wear his sweatpants to bed tonight. If he hadn't worn anything, then Jensen might have refused to get into the bed with him. He half-considered getting up to put a T-shirt on, but he knew that he really was too tired (or maybe just too lazy) to move.

Jensen smirked in return before he shrugged and slowly got into the bed with Jared, pulling the cover over the two of them as he got comfortable.

Deciding that Jensen might prefer a little space after his comment, Jared kept his distance from Jensen in the bed, ensuring that none of his body parts were touching Jensen.

Jensen turned on his side, facing away from Jared, and Jared really hoped that his friend wasn't feeling uncomfortable sharing a bed with him.

"Hey!" Jensen suddenly snapped after a few minutes of silence, like he'd just remembered something. "You promised me 'manly cuddling', Padalecki!"

Jared couldn't help laughing at Jensen's false indignation as he moved over a little in the bed and wrapped his arms around Jensen, so that he was now spooning him. He felt Jensen push back a little against him, letting out a soft, contented sigh as he got comfortable in Jared's arms. Jared had a feeling that the crew and the fans would be shocked if they ever saw Jensen like this.

He felt an intense rush of relief that Jensen still wanted to cuddle with him. Jared tried to reassure himself that he could do this; that he could be Jensen's buddy and enjoy the cuddling and the shared affection with him. After all, the thought of losing Jensen as a friend (and losing the deep bond and the trust that they shared) made Jared feel a little terrified, and he told himself all over again that it wasn't worth doing or saying anything to risk the friendship.

"I'm here for you," Jared whispered against Jensen's neck, trying not to think about how comfortable he was sleeping like this with Jensen; how perfectly they fit together; how he always looked forward to nights like these with Jensen in his bed; how much he secretly wished that Jensen was his boyfriend as well as his co-star and his best friend.

As he felt the tension leaving Jensen's body, Jared also started to relax. He had just closed his eyes when he suddenly felt Jensen tense up in his arms. Jared opened his eyes warily, wondering what was wrong.

"Dude," Jensen whispered, sounding as tense as his body felt, "I just realized…that thing I said before, about you being naked, I didn't mean that I'd be uncomfortable…"

"Hey," Jared quickly cut him off, knowing where the conversation was going and deciding that he didn't really need to hear any sort of apology, "it's cool; you don't have to explain anythin' or apologize…"

Jared had dealt with all of this before, too, from his straight friends who liked to keep up a 'tough guy', 'macho' image and sometimes didn't know what to say for the best. They often worried that they might have crossed a line or said something that could come across as homophobic, panicking that they'd unintentionally offended him and therefore apologizing. Yet Jared wasn't easily offended; he couldn't have worked in Hollywood if he'd got mad at every possible comment that might have annoyed him, so he really didn't want Jensen to think that he'd upset him. Anyway, he didn't know many people who'd be totally comfortable sleeping in a bed with their naked buddy. Except maybe Chad, but that was a whole other story…

"You need to relax," Jared told him firmly, noting that Jensen still felt tense.

Jensen went quiet for a couple of seconds before he suddenly wriggled out of Jared's grasp and turned over to face him.

"No, it's not cool," he mumbled, sounding nervous about something for some reason. "I uh…what I meant was, it wasn't that I'd be uncomfortable, it's just that it would've been too uh…distracting…the whole you-being-naked thing…"

As Jensen blushed, Jared stared at him with a frown, feeling totally confused. What did Jensen even mean by that? Was it a good thing or a bad thing, that Jensen would have been distracted by his nakedness?

"I wouldn't have been able to sleep, thinking about you being naked right next to me," Jensen continued, his voice shaking. "I think about it way too much anyway, about you in general...and I've _really_ gotta sleep, dude; I'm exhausted. But…uh…I don't want you to think that I wouldn't be into it…" Jensen abruptly paused and shook his head, blushing like he'd just said something totally lame. "No, what I mean is…I don't want you to think that I wouldn't be into _you_. Naked. So uh…yeah…just in case you were ever, you know, wondering..." he trailed off, looking really embarrassed.

Jared stared at Jensen in shock, his eyes slowly widening in disbelief. No way had Jensen just said that! Surely he'd heard wrong, or misinterpreted his words, or maybe this was all just some weird dream brought on by too much pizza and too many bad movies. He was so shocked that he couldn't even speak to offer a response.

"Jay, I'm sorry," Jensen suddenly started rambling, his eyes widening, too. "I've said the wrong thing; you don't feel that way…I really am sorry, man; I got it totally wrong...I shoulda just kept quiet. Please, just forget I ever said anything! I don't wanna mess things up between us-"

Feeling shocked all over again that Jensen could even begin to think that Jared _hadn't_ been secretly in love with him for months, Jared ran through hundreds of things that he could say to reassure Jensen, or things he could say just to shut him up, but instead, he found himself acting totally on impulse by moving closer to Jensen so that he could kiss him.

Jensen gasped in shock for about a second before he just went with it and kissed Jared back, with a passion that didn't really match up to his shyness in everyday life. It was like he had wanted to kiss Jared for a long time and therefore wasn't holding back. There was nothing awkward or hesitant about it; their lips just seemed to be made for each other's (although Jared wasn't sure if he should admit something so corny like that out loud just yet).

Jared couldn't decide what was better; the kiss (which was way better than any other kiss that Jared had ever experienced in his life), or the fact that he was holding Jensen in his arms and cuddling with him while he got to kiss him, or the knowledge that Jensen really felt the same way about him. He couldn't help wondering how long they had felt this way about each other and had both kept their feelings hidden. Not that it mattered now.

"Jensen, I'm _totally_ into it," Jared managed to get out breathlessly between kisses as Jensen ran his hands through Jared's hair. He almost felt like crying as Jensen grinned at him; it was a real, happy smile that Jared hadn't seen from Jensen for weeks.

After a few minutes of making out and running their hands up and down each other's bodies, Jensen was the one to break the kiss.

As disappointed as he was to have to stop kissing Jensen, Jared was at least glad to note that Jensen looked just as reluctant as he was to stop kissing him.

"Jay, I really gotta sleep," Jensen whispered, looking sheepish and sounding genuinely sorry that he was too tired to continue. He grinned apologetically at Jared and ran a hand affectionately across his cheek.

Jared looked into Jensen's eyes and was reminded all over again that as fun as the kiss had just been, Jensen really was exhausted, and feeling a little low, and going through some personal stuff, and he really needed Jared to be a friend to him and comfort him tonight before they explored this new side to their relationship.

"Hey, it's okay, I know, Jen," Jared whispered as he wrapped his arms firmly around Jensen. He could deal with no further kissing tonight, now that he knew how Jensen felt about him. Besides, he was still going to get to cuddle with Jensen. He felt a little guilty about feeling so elated when he knew that Jensen had a lot on his mind.

Jensen looked grateful as he got comfortable in Jared's arms again. "Thanks, Jay, for everything," he whispered.

"Hey, Jensen?" Jared couldn't help asking him after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?" Jensen asked him with a yawn.

"You…uh…you wanna sleep over tomorrow tonight, too?"

Jared might have asked Jensen to sleep over at his place at least twice a month for the past eight months, but he felt weirdly nervous about asking Jensen the same question now.

"Tomorrow's 'Naked Saturday', right?" Jensen asked him, sounding like he was trying not to laugh.

"Oh…uh…yeah," Jared replied, feeling a blush creep to his cheeks. He'd forgotten about his earlier joke.

Jensen turned in Jared's arms again. "I'll be there," he confirmed with a grin and a wink and what definitely looked like a leer, which caused Jared's heart to start beating faster. He could definitely get used to seeing this side of Jensen.

After another quick kiss, Jensen turned back around and started to drift off to sleep, still cuddling into Jared.

Jared held him in his arms, but he stayed wide awake, his heart still beating fast. There was no way that his friend (or maybe he could call him his boyfriend after tonight?) could expect him to sleep now after all the excitement of getting to kiss Jensen and the thought of all the possibilities that 'Naked Saturday' might bring.

Jared smiled to himself as he nuzzled into Jensen's neck, feeling happier and more hopeful than he had felt for months.

He already couldn't wait for their next sleepover.


End file.
